Govt bows to Church pressure

Sydney
1 Dec 2002

St Cecilia’s children go ‘bush’ for the day

Radical bid for men-only teaching job offers

Crackerjack way to see charity in action

Destruction of human life for profit - research fear

Fr John says ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye’

Real meaning of Christmas

Perth statue: Archbishop orders inquiry

... deported, then disappeared or dead

Avoid war at all costs: Caritas

Christmas Bowl gets helping hand from a Leunig angel

Govt bows to Church pressure

A walk against war

Persecution: UN should be forced to act

Casting a NET to reach young adults, older kids

Tom Singer, lost in a ‘coward’s war’

Asylum seeker kids allowed to attend Catholic school

Editorial: When aid is misused

Letters: Breadwinners?

Conversation: Terry Underwood, Ambassador, Year of the Outback

Reflections: US bishops pose questions on Iraq

Kids go ‘bush’ at St Cecilia’s to help drought victims

It’s ‘family first’ for SOS (son of Sergio)

Dad had to face racism on field

Retreat helps with the healing

Love of books pays off for coastal school

‘Greedy people’ let the needy go without

Third degree burns

Govt bows to Church pressure

Opposition from Churches, including Catholic bishops, has forced the Queensland Government to water down controversial anti-discrimination laws which would have prevented Church schools from refusing to hire homosexual teachers.

Queensland Attorney-General Rod Welford has now confirmed the proposed laws will be amended.

Before the change, it was feared the ramifications of the new laws would flow to health care and social justice services.

The amendments will allow non-government schools to discriminate in favour of teachers who actively follow values integral to the religion espoused by the school.

But the schools will still lose the right to refuse employment to applicants solely because they are homosexuals or in a de facto relationship.

Church leaders say the proposed amendments appear to address their concerns.

Premier Peter Beattie says he hopes the issue can be resolved.

Under the changes, the “genuine occupational requirement” exemption will be widened to allow schools to discriminate in favour not only of applicants who believe in the religion but those who uphold its values.

Queensland Catholic Education Commission executive director Joe McCorley says the legislation is now likely to receive Church support, subject to consultation with other denominations on the exact wording of the clause.

Mr McCorley says the change will not provide a way for schools to discriminate on the basis of sexuality without stating it outright.

Mr Welford says the amendment will strike a fair balance between outlawing discrimination and allowing Church-run schools to teach their students a certain set of values.

“We’re hoping that for most of the schools we can achieve a win-win outcome where the character of the religious values presented in the schools can be preserved, while at the same time ensuring that unjust discrimination does not occur,” Mr Welford said.

Queensland Opposition Leader Mike Horan says he is pleased the Government has backed down.

Churches should be able to run their schools according to their religion, he says.

The original legislation was introduced to Parliament without prior community consultation.

It was designed to take away an exemption granted by the 1991 Anti-Discrimination Act to allow religious schools to reject a teacher on the grounds of sexuality.

It will give homosexuals living in de facto relationships the same legal rights as heterosexual couples.